7 STEPS ON HOW TO UNDERSTAND COMPUTER HARDWARE

SafeBytes Software

Computer hardware is the basic physical building block for most of the gadgets that we use in our everyday lives.

For a user, it is sensible to have an understanding of what hardware is and how it works. This article explains the basics which will help you when you want to repair, upgrade or even construct your computer.

Distinguish between hardware and software: Hardware is any part of the computer that you can touch physically. Software on the other hand cannot be touched but experienced through its functions. For example the mouse is the hardware, but the clicking systems and images that it controls are the software.

Study the input devices: You need to know what is getting into your PC via the input devices. This will ultimately help you understand what will come out. It is the “garbage-in-garbage-out” principle that has traditionally been part of the computer manufacturing world.

Some of the input devices include keyboards, pointers, trackballs, audio devices, microphones, gamers, joysticks, scanners and webcams.

Learn about the output devices: These are the instruments that generate information and data after the computer has done its processing. Output devices follow the instructions that you give them and try to perform tasks that you want accomplished.

Basically they consist of the content that the computer will churn out after being prompted by your operations. These output devices include the monitor, video, images, printer, and speakers.

Study about internal bus devices: The most important thing for you to understand here is, the devices that they control. For example they are typically linked to a specific output device so that you can diagnose a problem and deal with it quickly. They might control the floppy disk, Serial ATA/other disks drives and internet access.

Read about the external bus devices: These are removal storage devices that are critical for those that use their PCs for large and diverse types of work. It is not necessary to know all of them, but it helps if you have a grasp of the basics. For example you will need to be able to distinguish between Serial ATA drives and IDE.  You also need to understand how the floppy disks work.

Other important pieces of information relate to cables, slots as well as the relationship between the “Master” and “slave” drivers.  Read about compact disks and digital disk drives. You will be expected to know the difference between W/Write and RW/Rewrite systems.

This may mean knowing about the various capacities that are available ranging from kilobytes to terabytes.  Do not forget to study about USB devices which have become a common feature.

Motherboard hardware: This is the final and perhaps most complicated step of them all. The motherboard has important relations with your CPU (Central Processing Unit). It will also determine Random Access Memory (RAM) which is typically written as “DDR2” or “DRAM” depending on the type of machine you are using.

Make sure that you know how to configure both the input and output system as well as the workings of the CMOS battery/chipset.

Above all make sure that you practice. These things cannot be embedded until and when you practice them regularly. Computer hardware remains one of the most important aspects of your PC.